almost certainly yeah

i do suspect the publications with a niche like Pitchfork are basically goners without a change–actual newspapers can at least pretend to limp along in a severely gutted fashion for years (because large swathes of the industry are doing that right now, especially smaller papers acquired by hedge funds) but you can’t… really do that with a publication that prides itself on having contrarian views and an independent tone of voice. something like Pitchfork completely rides or dies by the quality of its writers. G/O Media gutting its unique voices are why i don’t read Deadspin despite having religiously done so when it was under the first iteration of Gawker, and why i support Defector now.

i’d argue the issue is less with music and more with journalism–although Pitchfork is probably in a worse situation than the typical journalistic outlet–because we’re a month into 2024 and layoffs have badly decimated Sports Illustrated, the LA Times, TIME, and a bunch of other publications. and outside of the separately unionized websites (of which Pitchfork is one) Conde Nast’s website portfolio just went on a one-day strike to protest the cuts they’re proposing (5%) to the workforce.